On the national level, following the loss of Republican control of both chambers of Congress, President Bush is chastened, Karl Rove’s reputation as a master strategist has taken a big hit, and Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman is on his way out.

Yet in Rhode Island, Patricia Morgan, the GOP’s volunteer chairwoman, fails to take any blame for the situation. Pointing to how the Dems made national gains in controlling legislatures and in picking up gubernatorial seats, Morgan asserts, “The fact that we didn’t have more people elected this time has nothing to do with the state party. This was not a failing of the state party. The state party is really stronger and better than it has ever been,” because of improved organizational capacity and “a very strong slate of candidates.” (Morgan acknowledges, though, that the number of Republican legislative candidates dropped, to 50-something, from almost 70 in 2004.)

Meanwhile, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal says the governor bears “very little” responsibility for the sorry showing of Rhode Island Republicans this time around. “You and I both know that this was a massive Democratic tidal wave that broke against the shores of Rhode Island and elsewhere . . . ” Neal says. “The percentage of Democrats voting a straight party ticket was probably at an all-time high . . . In that context, and in the context of the massive effort of public-employee unions to oust Governor Carcieri from office, I think that Tuesday’s results are a lot more positive than they could have been.”

Yet although the Democratic tide did partially affect a number of local races, it wasn’t hard to see how Rhode Island Republicans would be the biggest losers of the 2006 election season.

Carcieri — who helped to galvanize a bigger GOP legislative push in 2004 — was focused this time around (wisely, as it turned out) on his own race (and the US Senate race soaked up other Republican resources). While the state GOP is a little farther along than it was prior to Morgan’s arrival, the difference remains academic as long as credible legislative candidates are basically left to their own devices.

ADVERTISEMENT

As I wrote two weeks ago (see “Campaign winners and sinners,” News, November 3), “The bottom line: until the RI GOP proves itself capable of nurturing an effective long-term strategy, complaints about the excesses of Democratic dominance will basically amount to empty chatter.”

Can’t anyone here play this game?
As Election Day approached, Spencer Maguire was the kind of GOP candidate with a seemingly good shot of making it into the General Assembly. The Bristol resident, a former Marine attending law school at Roger Williams University, had worked for John H. Chafee and for Lincoln Chafee, and he was motivated to run for office by an instance in which Democratic Representative Peter Palumbo had voted for two absentee colleagues. Nor did it hurt that the incumbent, Representative Ray Gallison, faced a still-pending Ethics Commission review of a complaint, filed by the state Republican Party, regarding his employment with a nonprofit financed largely through state grants.

As it turned out, however, Gallison enjoyed a comfortable victory on the way to his fourth term, beating Maguire on a 57 percent-42 percent margin, or 2683 votes to 2008. (Gallison, who has a hardworking reputation among Democrats, also bolstered broader support by having sponsored a mandatory overtime bill for nurses, an active statewide constituency.)

Maguire, who correctly describes his showing as solid for a first-time candidate, took his race seriously enough to raise a $30,000 war chest. Yet although the state GOP offered some help with research, a mailing, “and a little bit of funding,” the assistance amounted to “not a ton, to be quite honest,” he concedes. Meanwhile, an even more alarming indicator for Republicans is how it took Maguire six months to learn about a meeting of the Bristol Repu blican Town Committee. As he says, “It was absurd that you could be motivated and interested and not even find a way to get involved.”

This kind of difficulty for Republican legislative candidates was replicated statewide. Although GOP challenger John Robitaille (who is seeking a recount) gave a scare to first-term Representative Amy Rice of Portsmouth, losing by a mere 13 votes, the shoe was more often on the other foot.

Incumbent GOP representatives, including Laurence Ehrhardt of North Kingstown and senior deputy minority leader Carol Mumford of Hope, faced stiff challenges from Democratic opponents, while another Dem came within about 400 votes of knocking off House minority whip Nick Gorham. Republican challenger Jim Haldeman, a veteran of the Iraq war, enjoyed a well-publicized boost from a local official in Falluja, but still got swamped by incumbent John Patrick Shanley of South Kingstown.

The Citzens’ Foundation of Rhode Island, a new group founded by Warwick businessman Doug Mancosh, endorsed a slate of predominantly Republican candidates, and reportedly aided them with small cash contributions, but it wasn’t much of a factor.